CCD sensors are employed in photographic film scanners to convert film images optically projected onto the sensor sites into digital image signals. For optimum performance, it is critical that the CCD be mounted in precise alignment with the plane of the film being scanned. Typically this has been accomplished by means of carefully machined mounting devices employed precision datum surfaces the align the CCD to the film plane. Such techniques, while effective, are costly to implement and are therefore not suitable for low cost film scanners.
The use of a molded polycarbonate light-tight housing to precision mount the CCD at a remote location from the film plane provides a good approach to low cost design but introduces the problem of how to precision align the CCD at the end of the housing without using costly molding materials and techniques. The use of mechanical fasteners or adhesive bonding of the CCD to the flanges of the housing can result in misalignment of the CCD with remote film plane since these techniques rely on the positioning of the CCD to the housing flanges and do not allow for independent alignment of the CCD to the film plane. There is therefore a need for a low cost mounting arrangement in which a component, like a CCD, can be mounted on a housing in precise aligmnent with a remote location, such as the film plane of a photographic film scanner.